Harold Courlander was born on 18 September 1908 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. He was married to Emma Meltzer and Ella Schneiderman. He died on 15 March 1996 in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
He had two children with his second wife, Emma: son, Michael (born in 1951); and daughter, Susan Jean (born in 1955; died in 2002). He also had a daughter, Erika (born in 1940), with his first wife, Ella.